College Football 2011 - Week 1.....

The college football season starts tonight and for college sport fans and the NCAA it could not come soon enough after this "summer of scandal". Add the conference movement going on and it is just too much noise for college sport fans. Unfortunately, they will be the stories throughout the year, especially with many of the top teams being a part of this stories.

As for on the field, the consensus seems to put Alabama and Oklahoma in the BCS Title Game. Can Alabama keep the Championship in Charles Barkley's home state for a third straight year? Will Oklahoma give one last boost to the Big 12, before it possibly goes away? What about the BCS Buster in Boise State? I don't know the answers and look forward to seeing it played out each Saturday.

Now onto the field for the week one match-ups.

Week 1 games (Home team in CAPS):

NOTRE DAME (#16) over South Florida - I'm buying into the ND hype and expect to see them in a BCS game in January. Skip Holtz leads USF into the place where his dad coached, but will come up short in his upset bid.
South Carolina (#12) over East Carolina University (Charlotte) - The Ol' Ball Coach has a team which is getting some buzz to get out of the SEC and possibly be a championship contender. Stephen Garcia is back at QB, while Marcus Lattimore stars at running back to lead this offense for the Gamecocks. Game is in Charlotte, but could feel like a SC home game.
TCU (#14) over BAYLOR - Texas Christain may not be as good as they were the last two seasons, but they will still be a force and could work their way into the BCS mix. Gary Patterson is considered one of the best coaches in college football and after last year's graduating losses, he will show his mettle and get the Horned Frogs back to a big bowl game.
MARYLAND over Miami - Too many distractions down in Miami and the Terps will take advantage of those problems in their ACC home opener. Randy Edsall gets his first ACC coaching win on Labor Day night.
Oregon (#3) over Louisiana State (#4) (in Dallas) - The marquee match-up of the opening weekend has a bit of tarnish on it due to the investigation at Oregon, but more so because of the legal troubles of some of LSU's best players, including starting quarterback, Jordan Jefferson. The Ducks will be lead by sensational running back LaMichael James and the rest of their high powered offense.
Boise State (#5) over Georgia (#19) (in Atlanta) - Boise State is back for another shot at the crown jewel and their first, and possibly biggest test, will be against the big, bad SEC representative in the Georgia Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are ranked, but that may be a bit of a "SEC boost" helping them into the early Top 20. The game is in Atlanta, but the Broncos showed last year that they don't shy away from a hostile "neutral" crowd when they faced Virginia Tech in Washington, DC. Kellen Moore is back at QB for Boise and will lead the Broncos to the victory.